Billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday it would be a “godsend” if New York City could lure every other billionaire around the globe, a clarion call for the rich just days after new U.S. Census figures showed an increase in the city’s poverty rate and a wide gap between the wealthy and poor.

On his weekly radio show, Mr. Bloomberg, who has been accused over the years of being out of touch, suggested New Yorkers would benefit if the income gap were even wider because the wealthy pay for a big portion of city services.

Mr. Bloomberg said his administration has spent most of the past 12 years trying to help decrease poverty in the city. But he suggested New York could benefit if the income gap grew even more, saying the problem with the income gap is not at the low-end.

“The reason it’s so big is at the higher end we’ve been able to do something that none of these other cities can do, and that is attract a lot of the very wealthy from around the country and around the world,” Mr. Bloomberg said.

“They are the ones that pay a lot of the taxes. They’re the ones that spend a lot of money in the stores and restaurants and create a big chunk of our economy,” he said. “And we take tax revenues from those people to help people throughout the entire rest of the spectrum.”

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